KIRKUS REVIEW

Murder turns would-be romance
novelist Emmy into the heroine of her own romantic mystery.

The worst Emmy Danvers, a white
16-year-old, has faced is the long string of losers her mom has dated since her
dad left them while her mom was still pregnant and the tension of unrequited feelings
for good white friend Ben. But while she’s working on another story idea for a
romance in a coffee shop, an unknown elderly man warns her that she—along with her
absent father—is not safe before covertly handing off an encrypted high-tech
tablet and promptly dying right on top of her. As in the improbable scenarios
of her stories, Emmy, not knowing which adults to trust, brashly accepts the
offer of the murdered man’s rich, white teenage grandson, Sebastian, a
self-described “Certified Bad Boy,” to attend elite Emptor Academy on a
scholarship. Although this is nominally a murder mystery, the suspense is mild,
as Emmy spends more time navigating her new high school (particularly
interactions with mean girls) and reconciling her feelings for both Ben and
Sebastian (this is a romance, after all) than trying to track down her missing
father, access the tablet’s hidden contents, and stay out of danger. The author
adds diversity through Emmy’s circle of new and old friends and Emptor’s
instructors. A heightened conclusion with unresolved answers sets the scene for
a sequel.

For readers who like a light serving
of mystery with a side of romance. (Mystery. 14-17)

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